It\u2019s not just President Donald Trump\u2019s history of leading the country through a 35-day funding lapse that has lawmakers worried about his appetite for another one in March. It\u2019s also that Trump\u2019s actions in his first two weeks back in office are stifling bipartisan negotiations toward a funding deal as the president \u2014 and his \u201cgovernment efficiency\u201d chief, Elon Musk \u2014 work to bulldoze the federal bureaucracy while freezing billions of dollars Congress already enacted and firing federal workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think anybody thinks a shutdown is a good thing. But the politics are such that we could certainly stumble into one without meaning to,\u201d House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole<\/a>, an Oklahoma Republican, said in a brief interview Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The new president\u2019s truculent first days in office have created an especially unfavorable climate on Capitol Hill for landing any cross-party accord, whether that\u2019s a \u201cgrand funding deal\u201d ahead of the government shutdown deadline or an agreement to lift the debt limit to prevent the U.S. from defaulting on more than $36 trillion in loans in the coming months.<\/p>\n

While the Democratic leader in the House demands that Trump\u2019s funding freeze be \u201cchoked off\u201d<\/a> as part of any funding agreement, Republican lawmakers say it will be Democrats who take the fall for causing a funding lapse if they hold that line. And so the shutdown blame game begins again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president issued an executive order to curb spending. I highly doubt Republicans are going to rescind that. I don’t see that happening,\u201d Rep. Lisa McClain<\/a> (R-Mich.), the chair of the House Republican Conference, said late Tuesday. \u201cThat\u2019s on Dems if they want to shut it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind closed doors, Cole and Congress\u2019 other three top appropriations are trying to strike a bipartisan deal on the first step toward funding the government by the March 14 deadline: One overall spending total for the military and another for non-defense programs. From there, it usually takes at least a month to negotiate and finalize the dozen individual funding bills. The clock is ticking fast.<\/p>\n

The exasperated Democrats sitting opposite Cole at the negotiating table say any good faith agreement with their GOP counterparts is meaningless if Trump disregards the will of Congress by using \u201cimpoundment\u201d to withhold funding they pass into law.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the White House is not going to honor an agreement and use impoundment, then it is hard to come to agreement,\u201d Washington Sen. Patty Murray<\/a>, the Senate\u2019s top Democratic appropriator, said in a brief interview Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Democrats want Trump to unfreeze foreign aid and billions of dollars already promised to federal contractors and local governments, while also stopping Musk from dismantling agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development. They also want Trump to promise he will sign into law \u2014 and then actually follow \u2014 whatever bipartisan funding deal they might strike in the coming weeks, especially after he and Musk goaded GOP leaders into disavowing the December spending package all parties had previously approved.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need assurances. That\u2019s all I\u2019m going to say,\u201d Murray said.<\/p>\n

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